WP&J Tax Day Rally – pre-rally posts

4/7: 50 yrs ago, in 1968, motivated by a desire for economic justice, Dr. MLK helped organize the Poor People’s Campaign march. Dr. King said, “…the highest patriotism demands the ending of the war and the opening of a bloodless war to final victory over racism and poverty.” #GCOMS

4/8: Ban Ki-Moon, UN General Secretary, said, “Massive military spending and new investments in modernizing nuclear weapons have left the world over-armed and peace under-funded.” #GCOMS

4/9: Global military spending levels have risen steadily in recent years. In 2016, the world’s military spending amounted to $1,686B USD compared to $1,088B USD in 2001. Total military spending accounted for 2.2% of the global GDP in 2016, which means $227 USD per person. #GDAMS

4/10: When the top military spenders were ranked in 2016, the US (#1) spent more than the combined total spending of the next eight largest military spenders: China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, India, France, UK, Japan, Germany. [$611B USD vs. $59.5B USD] #GDAMS

4/12: A cut of 3.2% on World Military Spending would generate $54B/year, enough to address pre-primary, primary, & lower-secondary universal education by 2030. Malala Yousafzai said, “With guns you can kill terrorists; with education you can kill terrorism.” #GDAMS

4/13: Our 40′ banner will show where the Federal discretionary budget is spent. The Walpole Peace & Justice Group stands in solidarity with the Global Campaign on Military Spending (GCOMS), calling for reduced military spending & redirection of those funds to human services. #GDAMS

4/14: The Walpole Peace & Justice Group is holding a Tax Day Rally with speakers, informational handouts, & a multi-color 40-foot budget banner. Free. Open to the public. Saturday, April 14, 10-11:30 am, Walpole Common Gazebo. (Speakers at 10:30 am.) info@walpolepeace.org #walpolepeace